Uganda has rallied Nile Basin states to leverage their proximity to the crucial water resource to boost sustainable energy development.

The call was made by Vice President Jessica Alupo during the opening of the 32nd  Nile Council high-level ministers meeting in Munyonyo, Kampala, Uganda on Friday, August 2, 2024.

“As a community of nations sharing a major water course, the Nile, working together to explore viable options for addressing the current and future challenges should continue motivating us to cooperate under the Nile Basin Initiative,” she said.

Alupo noted that the Nile Basin countries face a number of challenges such as underdevelopment, inadequate power for industrialisation, increasing population, environmental degradation and impacts of climate change.

Vice President Jessica Alupo in a group photo with dignitaries at the function.

The Nile Basin countries include; Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Eritrea, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“Our region also continues to face the challenge of meeting the ever-increasing demands for water, food and energy,” she observed.

Alupo challenged the Nile Basin countries to explore options for moving forward the cooperative agenda without compromising the gains realised over the years.

She stated that the basin’s environmental assets such as wetlands, forests, and river banks are becoming increasingly under pressure from expanding economic activities and a lack of effective cross-border mechanisms for protection, restoration and sustainable utilisation of the ecosystem.

“The challenges the Nile Basin is facing require collective action by all the basin states since many of these challenges cut across country boundaries. Even when we have differences, we should not lose sight of the need to work together to address common problems,” Alupo advised.

The Vice President revealed that since the establishment of Nile Basin Initiative in 1999, major achievements have been realised in power generation and interconnection, river basin management, agriculture productivity and trade, watershed management, flood preparedness and early warning, and capacity building to deal with extreme climate events.